Safety Dynamics Completes LA Sheriff's Installation of Gunshot Detection System in Compton, CA

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton and other police officials gathered at a news conference December 29 to announce the completion of work to install Safety Dynamics' SENTRI gunshot detection for urban crime prevention in the city of Compton. SENTRI units consisting of a camera and four microphones were scattered all over town a month ago, officials said.

"As soon as it hears shots fired, boom, the cameras turn," said sheriff's Lt. Scott Edson. The SENTRI unit is able to detect shots fired from within a quarter-mile radius and can even distinguish the type of rounds fired, said sheriff's Lt. David Telley. The unit employs neural networks, so it can listen for the temporal pattern of a gunshot and ignore similar sounds, like a bus backfire.

The Sheriff's Department, which provides law enforcement services in Compton, had tried similar technology called ShotSpotter, but Edson said the older equipment does not have cameras, only listening devices. "It's going to be like another eye for us, which will help us apprehend any suspects," Deputy Tony Bowie said of the new technology.

SENTRI is a stand-alone acoustic smart sensor which is capable of unambiguously recognizing and determining the direction and distance of targeted sound signatures which can work in concert with other modes of sensor detection, such as intelligent video, to validate and isolate the source of the sound. In the case of law enforcement, SENTRI is trained to listen for gunshots.

With this technology in place, the benefits to law enforcement are many: quicker reaction times, accurate location of the origin of the threat, and the active discouragement of crime by the mere presence of SENTRI units. SENTRI was part of the Chicago Police Department's "Operation Disruption," and currently protects areas in Charlotte, NC, Richmond, CA, and Tijuana, Mexico.

SENTRI To Keep Eye and Ears on Gunfire in Coastal Georgia

The Brunswick Police Department hopes to purchase SENTRI systems to help nab anyone who breaks the law by firing a gun in the city. "We hope to use the technology to identify people because most of the time when we get calls about gunfire, by the time officers get there, the suspects are gone," said Brunswick Chief of Police Edna Johnson. "These cameras would help us find and locate those who are actually discharging the firearms." The entire system of cameras and software – known as SENTRI – developed by Safety Dynamics has already taken a bite out of crime in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago.